So it’s the first full week of December. It’s getting colder, some snow is falling and everyone’s thoughts are turning to Christmas. And, or course, Christmas shopping! One of the biggest sellers this year is Internet Connected – or Smart Televisions. They enable you to sit in your living room and watch web based video directly on your tv. The war of convergence is over and the television is the victor!

And a whole host of new services are launching to take advantage of this change. Tesco and HMV have both recently launched Video on Demand services and Netflix is leading the charge from the United States. All the content you ever dreamed of, right into your living room.

According to a study just out from Bain and Co over 60% of households will have one of these connected televisions by 2014. One of the report’s most interesting findings is that 50% of people surveyed expected they would access this content in different ways. Instead of simply watching a channel they would use search engines and social networks to hunt down specific content they were interested in fueling discussion of a major transformation in viewing habits.

But despite this flood of content most people surveyed didn’t think they would watch more television. And they certainly didn’t think they would pay more for it. When it came to new forms of content – such as ‘webisodes’ – few respondents said they would be prepared to pay anything at all.

So where does this leave us? With the rapid expansion of connected devices – not just televisions but phones and tablets as well – there are more ways than ever to watch video. With this rapid expansion has come an explosion in available content it is safe to say there are more and more ways to watch more and more content. But here lies the paradox. With the same amount of money funding rapidly increasing content the amount spent creating each piece is going to fall. And yet given all this ‘noise’ the only way to reach consumers is through what the report calls an ‘improved content experience’.

So it’s all about sending the right piece of great content to the right person. And I guess that hasn’t changed – whatever device you choose to watch it on.

How often have you heard the phrase ‘content is king’? That may be so but don’t you just get the feeling that there’s too much choice out there. You may be able to record programmes at will but there often isn’t the time to watch them all back. And even user-generated content loses its appeal when it’s been sat on the shelf for a while.

Now don’t get me wrong. Here at WebsEdge we’re duly proud of all the programming we make. But in my view we’re all making it hard work for consumers to find what they want to watch when they want it.

Yesterday, I came across this recent NewTeeVee post which cites data from an online survey covering the general public’s views on IPTV. NewTeeVee summarizes the data suggesting that people access online video content in numerous ways, but none of which are quite satisfactory.

Viewers are looking for videos they’ll enjoy; content that is relevant and suited to their specific interests. Unfortunately, users are not yet satisfied with the ability to find the specific content they want.

The survey results show over half (56%) of online viewers find their videos by browsing sites, while around 1/3 find them through search engines. Although NewTeeVee seemed surprised by this difference, to me it makes sense. IPTV has begun its evolution, but the viewers aren’t yet ready to change their habits.

The ability to search for videos is something that viewers have never had in a conventional television environment. Browsing websites is basically the online equivalent of channel surfing. There has never been a way to sit on the couch and search for your interests and now that this exists online, people are having trouble adapting.

Part of IPTV’s innovation will be not only the evolution of the way people watch TV, but the way the find their programmes. For IPTV to blossom, viewers’ habits will begin to evolve as well, enabling a more fully functional spectrum of television.